Announced by the leaders of France and the countries of West Africa, the eco, future single currency of the West African Monetary Union (UEMOA), supposed to replace the FCFA, will not finally be there. in 2020, according to the Ecofin Agency.

To date, only France's progress in this process is known. On December 10, 2020, its parliament approved the bill relating to the modification of monetary cooperation agreements with WAEMU.

"The adoption by the National Assembly of the draft law approving the monetary cooperation agreement between France and WAEMU constitutes a decisive step in the conduct of the reform initiated by the signing of the cooperation agreement monetary policy in December 2019 in Abidjan”, can we read in a discreet communication from the general management of the French Treasury.

However, this progress in the file is not enough to see eco tickets circulating in the Uemoa zone. According to its article 10, the new monetary cooperation agreement “will enter into force on the date when the guarantee agreement is valid, subject to notification by all the signatory States of the completion of their ratification procedure”.

However, there is very little information on the process of ratification of this agreement by the member states of UEMOA. It is not excluded that the question is on the agenda of governments. But most of the press releases from the Council of Ministers of the countries concerned do not yet confirm this.

As for the guarantee agreement, the keystone of the new agreement, we know thanks to a French parliamentary report that the Macron government is working on it in consultation with officials from the Central Bank of Uemoa (Bceao).

However, in the latest monetary policy report of December 2020 published by the regional institution, this issue does not appear anywhere. Finally, a last and not insignificant challenge is that Nigeria, the leading economic power in ECOWAS, a sub-regional organization of which the UEMOA countries are individually members, has almost threatened to suppress any unilateral adoption eco.

In Central Africa, small changes are taking place

In view of this table, it is now certain that the project for a new currency in the UEMOA zone is on stand-by. According to Marc Le Fur, draftsman of the French Parliament, who quotes UEMOA officials, the next dates mentioned are 2023 or 2025.

In the twin zone of Cemac, the issue of monetary reform which is also discussed is still unclear. On August 1, 2020, anonymous investors revealed to the Ecofin Agency that France and this sub-region were also preparing a revised monetary cooperation agreement. This state of affairs was confirmed by M. Le Fur.

“It is true that the agreement binding us to the countries of Central Africa will be different: France will still be represented in their Central Bank and they will continue to be subject to the deposit obligation. Our relationship with these countries will not change for the time being, but given the relationship with West Africa, we will go in the same direction with the countries of Central Africa if they explicitly ask,” he said.

Even in the absence of a formal agreement, small changes are taking place in CEMAC. One of them concerns the free transferability of currency, which has become more restrictive. It is now more difficult to transfer money outside CEMAC countries. Even between countries in the sub-region, restrictions on electronic transfer or payment are now in place.

Finally, the Beac, even if it has granted delays, now wants all currency resources to be repatriated and centralized at its level, before placing a part in the operations account within the French Treasury.